Your trash is Warp Ways' treasure

Apr 22, 2018

Earth Day is not just about switching our lights off once a year, but it’s the significance of that act. It’s a day to light a spark in the movement of moving towards a more eco-friendly world and ensuring that sustainability is not just a one-day event but a change in our lifestyle.

This Earth Day, we’ve decided to put three final year design students from Temasek Polytechnic in the spotlight as they demonstrate a way to reduce our clothing footprint while still getting your fashion fix. At such a young age, they’ve already showcased the maturity and belief in important worldly issues at hand and taken action to make a difference.

Here’s how Ethel Leong, Jaime Ng and Bing Jie Guo started their Final-Year Project (FYP) with a goal to not only ace their last module in TP but also raise awareness to the increasing environmental issues caused by discarding unwanted garments!

Tell us more about Warp Ways and what inspired you to start?

The main inspiration for the brand came from the amount of fabric waste that we often see in our studio.

Warp Ways is a fashion label based on a sustainable concept, using unwanted used clothing and up-cycled waste materials and other ethical approaches to textile and fashion design.

Our main focus is to shine light on the issue of textile waste in the fashion industry and raise awareness through our apparel.

What do you think about the world’s current environmental situation?

The world environment is worsening day by day as we use our natural resources indiscriminately and fail to manage our waste.

Many people are unaware of the fact that the fashion industry is actually the third most polluting industry in the world. With global warming and technology, Mother Nature is really at stake if we don't take proper care of her.

What kind of materials did you utilise and who were your main contributors?

For our final year project, we focused mainly on denim and shirts. We reached out to our fellow design school students and lecturers to donate their unwanted clothing to us and we used these clothing for our collection.

In your opinion, how does shopping sustainably benefit us?

In the long run, I think it’ll benefit us on our shopping habits and help to stop unethical fashion brands. When we keep a look out for ethical fashion brands while we’re looking for clothes, unethical brands will be aware of what wise consumers wants and change their approach. This will in turn help to slow down bad quality fast fashion clothing and slowly stop sweatshops or any other unethical approach in fashion production.

Can you tell us something about how the issue of sustainability influences you as a designer?

The current issue on sustainability always reminds us not to just do beautiful designs but how we can work towards a more eco-friendly and sustainable design. It’s definitely more challenging, but that’s how we want to bring out values, and serves as a reminder to all the wearers and build connection with the world.

People would often opt for fast fashion as they are more affordable than eco-products. What's your take on this?

We want to make sustainable fashion affordable. Other than fast fashion being much cheaper, we feel that another factor is due to the lack of knowledge on the consequences fast fashion will bring about. Most shoppers are oblivious and unaware to the fact that textile wastage is harming our environment. Therefore, on our website, we listed out the harmful effects of textile waste and we hope that more and more people will be more conscious of what they wear.

Where do you see the sustainable fashion industry in 10 years.

The impact of textile waste will be much more significant in 10 years, people will eventually be noticing these signs. We believe by then there would be more upcoming labels coming together to do something about it. And sustainability will be the main cause of their design.

What small changes can people make in their everyday lives in order to create a positive impact on the environment?

Bear in mind the 3 words- REUSE, REDUCE AND RECYCLE. Yes, it might sound cliche. But we believe it’s the key to a healthier environment. You can start with buying clothing with organic content, using reusable water bottle, bringing your own grocery bag and cut down the use of materials that are non-biodegradable. And slowly, going green is already a part of your lifestyle.

Shop sustainably from the picks below. Made with love from natural fabrics!